Vietnamese restaurants are thick on the ground in Southeast Portland, but most are primarily outlets for pho, the beef noodle soup that’s Vietnam’s unofficial national dish, and other big, brothy bowls. Quán Ngon 3 Miền, a recent arrival on a desolate stretch of Southeast Powell Boulevard from the owners of downtown food cart Pho Le, is a different animal. It’s a pub, with an impressive karaoke setup and a TV playing dubbed Chinese-language soap operas, and it serves pub food: salty, greasy and hands-on.

The chow: You’re going to make a mess here, so dispense with delicacy off the bat with an order of crisp fried chicken wings in fish sauce ($10 for a dozen pieces). They’re less sticky than others around town, which may be a positive or negative, depending on personal preference. Chicken pot stickers ($7 for 12) appear to be handmade. Lotus root salad with shrimp and pork ($10) served with rice crackers makes a nice counterbalance to all the rich fare. If you’re up for more DIY handiwork, try the betel leaf-wrapped beef ($12), an enormous platter of vegetables, rice noodles and ground beef wrapped in leaves then rolled up in softened sheets of rice paper and dunked in an herbal dipping sauce. It’s enough food for two, and enough work to cover up awkward lulls in conversation.

Hangout factor: Not much. Quán Ngon 3 Miền is a single large room with a dozen tables, a stage, party lights, and a disco ball. It seems to be a two-person operation, so service happens whenever the cook makes it out of the kitchen. When the place is deserted, which is often, this happens frequently.